The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable Marks 20 Years of Advancing Environmental Sustainability Through Industry Collaboration

[May 21, 2026] — For 20 years, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) has brought leading global beverage companies together to advance environmental sustainability through technical collaboration, shared expertise, and pre-competitive action.

Founded in 2006, BIER began with a shared focus on water stewardship, recognizing water as the core ingredient in every beverage product and a critical resource across the global beverage value chain. As environmental challenges and industry expectations evolved over the past two decades, BIER’s work expanded to address increasingly interconnected issues, including climate action, sustainable agriculture, circular packaging, sustainability reporting, and supply chain resilience.

Throughout this evolution, BIER has created a trusted, pre-competitive environment where beverage companies can collaborate on practical, science-based approaches to shared environmental challenges. From contributing to broader sustainability policy discussions and technical frameworks to advancing benchmarking initiatives, technical guidance, and collective action projects, BIER continues to support members as they navigate an increasingly complex global sustainability landscape.

“Over the past 20 years, the beverage industry’s environmental challenges have evolved significantly, requiring deeper collaboration, greater technical rigor, and increasingly practical solutions,” said Erica Pann, BIER Executive Director. “BIER was founded on the belief that meaningful progress happens when companies come together to address shared challenges collectively. As we look ahead, that collaborative approach remains more important than ever.”

BIER’s key milestones and initiatives include:

• Industry Benchmarking: BIER’s benchmarking helps members measure and improve water, energy, and emissions efficiency across beverage operations while supporting greater understanding of performance drivers, operational trends, and collective industry progress.

• Technical Guidance & Resources: Through resources such as greenhouse gas emissions guidance, water circularity tools, and sector-focused environmental sustainability publications, BIER’s resources help members and industry alike translate complex environmental challenges into practical, actionable strategies.

• Regulatory Roundups: As Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability reporting requirements continue to evolve globally, BIER’s quarterly Regulatory Roundups help members cut through complexity by providing curated insights into emerging regulations, reporting expectations, implementation considerations, and evolving industry trends relevant to the beverage sector.

• Collective Action Initiatives: BIER continues to advance collaborative environmental initiatives designed to drive measurable environmental and social impact, including the Charco Bendito watershed initiative, Sustainable Coolers Coolition, and emerging watershed collaboration efforts in India.

These milestone initiatives are a testament to the hard work and dedication of BIER’s members over the decades, and they demonstrate what’s possible through collective action. Throughout its history, BIER has combined technical expertise with collaborative engagement to help advance practical, science-based sustainability solutions across the beverage sector while contributing to broader industry dialogue with NGOs, technical frameworks, and global stakeholders.

As BIER looks ahead to its next chapter, the organization remains focused on strengthening collaboration, expanding industry engagement, and supporting scalable environmental solutions that help beverage companies respond to evolving global sustainability challenges.

To learn more about BIER’s work, initiatives, and publications, visit https://www.bieroundtable.com/